NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cogni, a digital banking platform aimed at enhancing consumer lifestyles, announces today its $23 million Series A funding round, bringing a new wave of digital banking innovations to consumers who want to modernize their personal finance options. The strategic round was led by Hanwha Asset Management and CaplinFO with participation from Solana Ventures, FTX Ventures, Ship Capital, Thirty Five Ventures, ROK Capital, Bluewatch Ventures, and Alsara Investment Group. Cogni will use the funds to continue to build the core Cogni technology and infrastructure, gain new users on the platform, expand its suite of products and hire new talent.
With a rise in demand for banking services offering an all-encompassing, centralized suite of products and services, Cogni is focused on bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3 capabilities for an optimal modern customer experience. Cogni was built to provide easy, transparent, and accessible digital banking and lifestyle services on a single platform. It will ultimately create plug and play access to Web2 and Web3 services across traditional finance, crypto, NFTs, gaming and the metaverse, making all things personal finance easier to access under one hood.
“When building Cogni, I wanted to create a platform that was relevant and relatable to the way people engaged with their lifestyle,” said Archie Ravishankar, CEO and Founder of Cogni. “When I thought about my own needs, and those of the people around me and the way we interact with the world, I figured we needed to build a banking platform that aligned with those personalized needs, including this incredible migration into and at the intersection of the Web2 and Web3 spaces.”
In addition to offering free banking services, Cogni is providing customers with two unique products - discounted digital gift cards and the ability to track carbon emissions based on their transactions. Cogni provides access to more than 1,500 brands including Adidas, Sephora, Carnival Cruise, Hotels.com, DSW, Air BnB, Hulu, Spotify, Southwest Airlines, and more, allowing customers to purchase deeply discounted digital gift cards for purchases that align with their lifestyle. Additionally, for customers that are environmentally conscious, Cogni provides them with the opportunity to track carbon emissions and review the environmental impacts their purchases have.
In the coming months, Cogni will focus on building out their Web3 capabilities to give users access to an even more comprehensive and compatible banking platform. Specifically, Cogni will offer a Multichain wallet, as well as a High-Yield Savings account that will outperform most savings accounts currently on the market.
“Cogni is bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3 services by building a fully compliant, digital banking experience for mainstream user adoption. Cogni has built an incredibly impressive team and we are excited to support them as they execute on this vision,” said Matthew Beck, Partner at Solana Ventures.
“Currently, mainstream crypto adoption is limited by clunky user interfaces designed only for power users,” said Dylan Macalinao, General Partner at Ship Capital. “Cogni is the bridge that will make crypto and NFT accessible to everyday users.”
Cogni, based in New York City, was founded in 2018 with a mission to provide easy, transparent and accessible digital banking, with a lifestyle focus, all on a single platform. As technology continues to exponentially personalize consumer behaviors, and therefore finances, Cogni is building a digital bank allowing a seamless integration of both banking and lifestyle choices.
About Cogni
Cogni is a leading lifestyle-focused digital banking platform founded in 2018. We give members zero-fee banking, access to 55,000 free ATMs worldwide, single-use cards, and access to discounted gift cards. Cogni also allows users to track carbon emissions on each transaction. Cogni aims to bridge the gap between Web2 and Web3 services by building a fully compliant, digital banking experience for mainstream user adoption with unique features. Cogni is headquartered in New York City, with a second office in San Francisco.
Its investors include Hanwha Asset Management, CXO Fund, FTX Ventures, Solana Capital, ROK Capital, 35 Ventures, Bluewatch ventures, World Quant, Hard Yakka and other well-known angel investors and venture capital firms. To learn more about us, visit http://getcogni.com or download our app on the App Store or Google Play.
